


The Dragon’s Heart

by hyuckrie



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Enemies to Lovers, Family Issues, Fluff, Light Angst ? maybe, Lucas and Ten are the same age, M/M, Not beta-ed we die like men, Slow Burn, not really enemies tho, renjuns just annyoed at jaemin the whole time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:40:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21704635
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyuckrie/pseuds/hyuckrie
Summary: Maybe Renjun was just exaggerating or maybe Jaemin was really annoying and deserved to be on his blacklist. The answer? Maybe it’ll be revealed soon.An AU where Ravenclaw! Renjun hates Slytherin! Jaemin’s guts but he can seem to pinpoint exactly why.
Relationships: Huang Ren Jun/Na Jaemin
Comments: 19
Kudos: 82





	1. The One Where Donghyuck Tries To Fight A Table

**Author's Note:**

  * For [serenmindipity](https://archiveofourown.org/users/serenmindipity/gifts).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> meet the boys! and feel the chaotic energy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i really hope this work is good enough for my baby kaori!!! it’s all to her, but i’ll post here too since i would like to everyone to read and comment it ♡  
> shout out to my friend alie for hyping me up and supporting me to write! also reading it first and stroking my ego hehe.
> 
> this chapter is just an introduction, the others will (hopefully) be longer.  
> enjoy! ♡

Maybe Renjun should ask his mother for a new pair of boots, he thought as he struggled a little to put them on. Dragon boots were very resistant and looked cool with the Ravenclaw robes, but when they were too small, they made your feet hurt, so Renjun should really ask for a new one since he wasn’t that keen on walking around with his thumbs in pain. 

It wasn’t like fulfilling his request would be very hard, since his family were the ones who made Dragon boots. Well, that, and other tons of Dragon related products, even if that was a smaller part of their business. They were known for owning several species of dragons, raising, taming, selling and buying them. That’s why they were called the Dragon Family, or just The Dragons as most people would say around. 

Long story short, they were a family with a big reputation and big money, so with that, came a lot of power. Not that Renjun would care about it that much, of course it was nice to have fancy things and all, but he didn’t really know how to use all the power that his family had.

“Renjun, are you coming for breakfast?” One of his dormmates asked from the door, making Renjun sigh once and drop his wandering thoughts. “Your brother was looking for you.”

Minutes later, he and Yukhei were walking together to the Great Hall, his slightly uncomfortable boots making him wince from time to time.

“What’s wrong? You look like a baby dragon bit your finger.” Bless Yukhei and his stupids dragon jokes that replaced Renjun’s upcoming wince with a low chuckle.

“My boots are a little too small for me.” Renjun pulled a face, scrunching his nose a little.

“Oh! You’ve had those for more than two years, right? I don’t know why don’t you just replace them every year like I do.” Yukhei said, slowing his steps so he could match with Renjun’s.

“I don’t see the need, as longs as they fit me, I should keep on wearing them.” Renjun tried to protest, but Yukhei was already distracted by waving at his friend group as they neared the Great Hall.

“Yeah, little dude, just ask Mom to send you new ones so you can stop making your face uglier by wrinkling it.” He joked, bumping his shoulder with Renjun’s while his steps got faster again.

“Shut up.” Renjun bumped back, and then pushed his brother towards his friends. “Whatever, go be an idiot with your idiotic friends.”

Yukhei slowed for a minute to turn around and stick his tongue out, mocking Renun, and then he took off to join the others seven-year students. He laughed to himself, wondering why he must have such a silly brother, when he caught a flash of bright orange hair (Chenle must have been messing around with color spells on his hair again) and rolled his eyes, thinking that his friends were just as silly. As Renjun moved to his usual spot at a table that totally wasn’t his house’s, something told him that was going to be a long day.

Truth be told, Renjun was about to explode from boredom, he’s been nursing the same glass of pumpkin juice since dinner, when Chenle asked him for help to do his homework. The thing is, Chenle was doing all by himself. But when Renjun repeated that he wasn’t needed for the fourth time, the Ravenclaw boy insisted that Renjun stayed in case he got anything wrong because he was oh so worried about taking the O.W.L.s. Renjun knew he was hiding something, but since he had nothing to do until curfew, he stayed. 

Sighing once again, he traveled his eyes through the Great Hall, observing the few students gathered there. Out of habit, his eyes landed on the Slytherin table since the majority of his friends were Slytherins. He spotted Jisung and Donghyuck chatting animatedly at the middle of the table, not very far from him, and Jeno standing by Donghyuck’s side while the other played with his fingers, they were really a disgustingly cute couple. But he had no time to dwell on that since his eyes caught another’s not that far from his friends. 

Na Jaemin, the Slytherin. Jaemin was actually the one who got Jeno and Donghyuck together, Jeno had been pining since the ending of their first year, and by the third Jaemin was already tired of his rants about Donghyuck’s honey skin and decided to befriend Donghyuck so Jeno would tag along on their hangouts at Slytherin’s dorms. The rest was story as always, Donghyuck falling for Jeno’s eye-smile, bright energy and unfunny jokes, both confessing shyly under the stairs of the Astronomy Tower. Renjun had heard the story a thousand times both from Donghyuck and Jeno, Jisung mockingly mouthing the words behind them just for Renjun and Chenle to see.

Unsurprisingly, after the couple was born and decided to glue themselves by the hip, Jaemin kind of stuck around their group since Jeno was his only friend. Funny thing, since he only really talked to Donghyuck and sometimes helped Jisung at Quidditch training. Like that, Renjun had the feeling that Jaemin didn’t belong with them, and somehow knew that but instead choose to stay close anyway. A really annoying attitude if ask Renjun. 

It was noticeable to Renjun how Jaemin was awkward around them, even if he tried, he was just tagging along all the time. It was even stranger when Renjun was hanging out with them. Usually, it was just Renjun and Donghyuck since they were best friends since first year (the same year they declared themselves platonic soulmates!), but it was inevitable Donghyuck’s boyfriend joining their reunion often since they got together and Renjun wasn’t that bothered with Jeno anyway, if it wasn’t the fact that Jaemin almost always was an addiction to Jeno. 

It was really confusing why Jaemin even tried at that point, really. But that might be just Renjun being too mean due to his boredom. 

“Renjun!” Chenle called, looking a bit annoyed as if it wasn’t the first time he was calling. To top that, he kicked Renjun under the table, making the boy hiss and almost fall off his seat. “What are you thinking of? I called you like twenty times.” He asked, but his eyes were already looking at the Slytherin table, following where Renjun was looking before he had his toes smashed.

“Nothing that concerns you.” Renjun said, now trying to check his level of pain from  _ does it just hurts this much because my boots are too small  _ to  _ I need to go to the hospital wing right now.  _

At that, Chenle looked back at Renjun with a knowing smirk, “Oh, you were just staring angrily at Jaemin.” He snorted before adding: “That’s a new level of hating right there, you usually don’t waste your time doing that from afar.”

“I was not...– I just…” Renjun didn’t know how to finish that sentence, so he just didn’t. “Aren’t you supposed to be doing homework, you Cornish pixie?” He thought the title really matched his younger friend’s personality, both creatures being small and annoying.

“That would be Jisung, since he was the one with blue hair last year.” Chenle retorted, the fact that he was to blame for Jisung sudden blue hair ignored. “And I’m already finished, you would know it if you weren’t being a bitter dragon.” He beamed, and Renjun suddenly had the urge to tackle him to the ground. 

“Merlin, you’re such a-” His words were interrupted by a smiling Donghyuck waving and walking their way. 

The sun-kissed boy had his hands clasped in Jeno’s, Jisung tagging along just a few steps behind them, his floppy black hair bouncing with every step he took. Renjun chuckled to himself when the youngest did a weird wayv move with his arms, dancing to a song he was listening alone on his own head. The fact that Jaemin stayed back at the Slytherin table didn't go unnoticed by Renjun. 

When the trio reached the Ravenclaw table, Donghyuck greeted them loudly. 

“Guys! What’s up?” He almost yelled, even if the distance between them was minimal. 

Chenle shrugged, “Nothing much, just finished homework.” He smiled back, high fiving Jisung, the difference between their hands comical. 

“Great! Do you two want to hang out?” Jeno was the one speaking now, his tone a lot lower than Donghyuck’s.

Renjun nodded, finding that interaction a tad bit strange, since when their friends asked to hang out? They usually just tagged along. And Jaemin staying back? Very strange. 

“Sure.” He said, nevertheless. “Do you guys want to play chess?” He suggested, already making puppy eyes to convince Donghyuck, since the boy got bored easily and even if their Wizard’s Chess sessions were pretty thrilling in Renjun’s opinion, Donghyuck wasn’t a fan of staying put for a long period of time. 

“Ugh, really?” Donghyuck rolled his eyes, but there was a smile forming at the corners of his mouth, so Renjun already knew he had won. “Fine! Just because I love you too much.” 

“Yey!” Renjun celebrated, ignoring Jeno’s protests of “hey! what about me? don’t you love me?”.

They walked to the Ravenclaw dorm in a bunch, Chenle’s and Donghyuck’s screams echoing through the corridors, even Renjun’s laugh was audible since he couldn’t control it when he was with his friends and the fact that Jaemin hadn’t joined them was totally unnoticed. 

  
  


“Chenle! That’s unfair, you’re cheating!” Donghyuck huffed loudly as one of Chenle’s piece destroyed one of his, ending the game and giving the win to the younger boy. 

“I was not cheating! You’re just terrible at Wizard’s Chess!” Chenle huffed back, and Renjun thought that his hearing was truly amazing for having to put up with their loud beings for the whole match.

“Now you’re just being mean!” Donghyuk whined, but all of them knew that he just couldn’t handle losing. 

Both boys got up from where the board game was situated at the coffee table and angrily stared at each other. 

“Duckie, let it be. I will beat Chenle and revenge your honor.” Jeno tried to grab Donghyuck’s hand from where he was sat at the couch, but the boy was too busy whining and focused on the odd staring contest. 

“The baby is going to complain a little longer, we all know that’s the price we pay for forcing Hyuck to play.” Jisung reasoned, and Renjun nodded as confirmation. 

“I’m not a baby!” Donghyuck finally gave up on staring at Chenle and threw himself on the couch besides Jeno, startling the poor boy out of his skin. 

Renjun was about to laugh out loud and comment about how much that behavior was indeed very childish, but a very known voice beat him to it. 

“He’s definitely a baby.” It came from the door, making everyone snap their necks on that direction. 

“Not you too Jaemin! I thought I could trust in you.” By how Donghyuck sounded, anyone was able to hear the pout on his voice. 

“You can’t deny the ultimate fact, Hyuck.” Jaemin flashed a billion watts smile, all pearl teeth and stuff. Renjun rolled his eyes. “However, I’m not here to point out the obvious, I was sent to inform you guys that your presence is requested at the Slytherin dorm.” Jaemin bowed treatrically and when he straightened his body again, his eyes sparkled with a mischief that only told Renjun he knew something and wasn’t sharing it. “All of you.” He eyed everyone for emphasis. 

“Damn, is it that serious?” Jisung grumbled, but he was already getting up, his longs limbs bumping into Jeno (again, poor boy.) and knocking his knee at the coffee table. “Ouch, who put that table here?” 

“It is there since primordial times, Sungie.” Renjun chuckled. 

“Hey! Stupid table, wanna go?” Donghyuck was already up again, making silly fists and doing this weird move directed at the table, as if he was punching it. 

_ I’m surrounded by idiots _ , Renjun thought, but he knew they made his life happier, and just because of that fact he didn’t voice his thought out loud. 

“Guys, let’s go and find out what’s up at the Slytherin dorm, shall we?” Jeno tried, hugging Donghyuck from behind and making the boy stop his stupid fake combat with the coffee table. 

“Yeah, I’m kind of curious myself.” Chenle chirped, moving to poke Renjun so he could get up. 

Renjun giggled automatically, Chenle’s pokes making him ticklish and for a second the room was silent. A few beats later, Jisung, the first one to recover from the rare display of cuteness from Renjun, cleared his throat and pointed with his thumb to the door. “Come on, let’s go.”

Renjun shook himself, breathing slowly and getting up, bumping his shoulder playfully with Chenle and joining the others in walking out of the Ravenclaw dorms. He couldn’t be bothered when he felt the very known pair of eyes burning the back of his neck, he choose to ignore Jaemin’s odd behavior, as he always did.

But he could still hear when Jeno stayed back to whisper, “What was that about just now?”.

“I don’t know Jen, I think that everyone was shocked by Renjun laughing freely at my presence. That’s a rare event.” Jaemin whispered back. Ok, maybe Renjun wasn’t ignoring them that much, however, it wasn’t of his interest how Jaemin felt about him giggling or whatever, so he just speed up his steps, locking arms with Donghyuck when he got closer enough to the boy, who smiled warmly at him. All was good. 

  
  


Renjun should have trusted all the red flags he sensed during the day, truly. Of course, he was kind of dumb for not noticing before, but trust him, he was  _ not _ expecting birthday party. 

Which was exactly what waited for him at the Slytherin dorms, his brother and all of his friends there, singing happy birthday at the top of their lungs even if they could be punished for making so much noise after curfew. 

You see, Renjun always had the same amount of friends ever since their little group was formed and all his birthdays were just a little get together with them, maybe Yukhei and Jeno’s bother, Mark. He was never one to parties like this one. 

So his confusion at the massive amount of gifts displayed at the table, a big cake in the center of it, was more than reasonable. 

Also, he did forget his birthday was coming. Not that Renjun was a distracted person, no. But he tended to ignore dates he wasn’t comfortable with, and holidays where in that list, right after his birthday. 

“Cake?” Yukhei knew of Renjun’s displeasure for his own birthday, so he had those damn puppy eyes on, as if that would erase all of Renjun’s will to just run out the door. 

But who was him to deny cake?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kudos and comments are highly appreciated ^~^


	2. The one where Renjun just wants to eat cake in peace.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is extremely unreviewed but i wanted so bad to update, so here it is. please ignore any mistakes! i'll get back to correct them eventually.  
> enjoy <3

“What the hell, Xuxi?” Renjun demanded, his hand still firmly wrapped around Yukhei’s wrist. “You know how much I hate birthday parties and you went and made me one? Behind my back?” Renjun’s tone was low since he didn’t want to alarm the people around them, but it was enough to sound dangerous. 

“I’m sorry okay?” Yukhei tried, but he didn’t look sorry at all. “I let it slip that it was your birthday and the boys suggested we should surprise you, so I suggested it to  _ your  _ friends and they approved it, so…” He shrugged. 

That made Renjun roll his eyes,  _ of course _ his friends were going to approve, they were chaotic and loved to mess with every little bit of peace Renjun had. He thought about not letting it go and making Yukhei feel guilty about forcing a unwanted party on him, but it was late and he was tired, so Renjun just shook his head and released Yukhei from his grip. 

“Look, next time you decide to ruin my birthday, at least let me know beforehand.” He sighed, already moving his eyes to the table where the cake was, looking deliciously soft and tasty. 

“You’re so dramatic.” Yukhei poked his brother, ripping a yelp from Renjun who glared at him. 

“And you,” He taped his finger not so lightly in the middle of Yukhei’s forehead, emphasizing his words. “Underestimate my love for cake.”

And even if he was still mad, Renjun puffed his cheeks and marched to where the cake was, ignoring Yukhei’s low laugh. 

  
  


If there was something that Renjun hated more than his birthday, it was receiving gifts on his birthday. See, he did like the sentiment that came along with gifts, but that was the exact thing that was missing when his parties were at his parent’s house and they were the ones giving him presents. 

His mom usually gave him flashy things like expensive clothes, just so she could show him off to her friends when they came over. His dad gave him fancy stuff a child couldn’t even begin to understand the use. Really, it was a mess. 

Yukhei’s presents were the ones Renjun treasured the most, since they were usually a drawing of both of them together and some origami he learned the week prior. It came from the heart,it was pure, and Renjun really loved things that warmed his heart. But since they were rare to find, he just stopped liking gifts all together, even when he started to celebrate his birthday at Hogwarts with his friends, he demanded there was no presents. 

But, obviously, his words were completely ignored this year. Seriously, why did he even bother to speak if absolutely no one would listen to him? 

That’s how he found himself surrounded by (thankfully) small gifts, wrapped in the most colorful pallet he’s even seen. 

To his defense, Renjun tried to stuff his mouth with cake for the whole night in order to delay dealing with the obvious gifts hanging in the all around the center table, but Chenle and Donghyuck were two little devils when they insisted on something, so there was no choice besides relenting and letting them have their way. 

So, unwrapping gifts it was. 

He sat down in the floor and started with the bigger one, a beige wrapper that left little to the imagination. It was a new pair of dragon boots, he didn’t even need to open it to know. Renjun grabbed the card on top of it and recognized his mother writing, congratulating him on his birthday, cold and curt as usual. He scanned the room with his eyes until he found Yukhei and glared, he wanted to ask himself for the boots since he liked the most simple ones, but he could already see from the little he opened the wrapper it was the newest model, one with complicated patterns made by hand, an exaggeration really. It was barely a glare though, it made Yukhei beam shamelessly and come closer. 

“You said you needed new ones! I send a note to Mom and she made sure it arrived in time for your surprise party.” The way he talked about their Mom made Renjun’s stomach churn, something unpleasant crawling up his spine at the the tone his brother used. 

Normally, there would be nothing wrong with loving and admiring your parents, the ones who gave you a home and love, raised you and made you who you are. But Renjun never understood how Yukhei could hold such an unaffected admiration for their parents, specially their mother, all he could see were people who liked to control every step of their life, not letting them think for themselves. 

Maybe it was just Yukhei, such a loving and caring soul, that never saw how toxic and controlling their parents were. Renjun was actually greatly thankful for Yukhei’s kind heart because since he was little, Renjun was socially awkward and if it wasn’t for Yukhei taking him under his big brother’s wing every time he felt like throwing up upon trying to make conversations with potential friends, Renjun would be long dammed to be a social failure. He was now less awkward thanks to Yukhei who never run out of patience with anyone, who was so purely good that he worshipped their parents even if they weren’t worth it.

Putting that feeling aside and thinking about how nice it was for Yukhei to make sure he got new boots, Renjun smiled at his brother, giving him a short but warm side hug. “Thank you, Xuxi.”

“Not a problem, little dragon!” And with that he was gone once more, attacking the cake with so much passion in the next second that Renjun regretted not hiding a piece or two to eat later.

Shaking his head to himself, Renjun moved to the next present, a bright pink wrapper with little cartoon kittens. It screamed Jeno all over it, and to emphasize that, when Renjun looked up, Jeno was already looking back, his eyes turned into little crescents due to his big smile.

When he opened it, there was a tiny tiny  _ tiny  _ cat inside, the little thing meowing as loud as a tiny cat could when Renjun grabbed it and put it on his hand.

“It remembers you to do your homework.”

Renjun snapped his head up from where he was trying to figure out how to pet such a minuscule cat, coming face to face with a very eager Jeno, the boy seemed proud of his gift. Renjun gave him a confused look.

“I found it at a really funny store when I was traveling with my Dad, it takes any form you think when you first touch it and as I love cats and am always thinking about them, it took the form of a cat.”Jeno rambled on, not giving Renjun enough time to catch up. “Anyways, when you’re around it and you’re yet to finish your homework, it meows.” He finished, the smile never leaving his lips while he talked.

“And if I don’t want to do any homework, it’ll be meowing all night long?” Renjun asked, blinking up at his friend.

“Uh… That I do not know.” Jeno rubbed his hand on his nape, suddenly sheepish. “But it’s not like you ever skip homework.” The boy shrugged.

Renjun had to agree with that, so he just nodded and grabbed the next gift. 

It was the same, he would open the wrapper and the friend that gave it would come closer to explain it, earning a thanks and a smile from Renjun. In the end, he had a bunch of candy from Chenle ( _ “I had no idea what to give you so I just…” and then he gestured to the pile of candy on Renjun’s hand while the boy shook his head knowing very well it would be eaten by Chenle himself and Jisung anyway) _ , a pretty handmade sweater from Donghyuck and an also handmade blue keychain from Jisung (Renjun would never say it out loud but it was the most adorable thing ever, full of little star stickers and stuff).

After shooing Jisung who almost broke his present while trying to explain it, really it was beyond Renjun how he had made it with those huge hands and no skill to DIY, Renjun was ready to go back to stuff his mouth with cake, so he sat up, ready to get on his feet. But then, he noticed yet another present, shaped like a box and wrapped in the most shiny pinkish color ever to exist. Renjun grabbed it, and a warm feeling crawled up his arms, like he was holding something like a firecracker ready to explode at any moment. Talk about weird, he was also feeling that same sensation of burning at the back of his neck, exactly how he felt when Jaemin’s eyes were focused on him. Suddenly, Renjun was very aware of the other boy sitting at the farest chair possible, and looked up only to confirm that the boy was indeed looking at him.

Ignoring the twist of his stomach, he unwrapped the glittery paper carefully, like he was afraid of it (and maybe he was), but all that he found was a box, all black with the same glitters from the wrapper paper and nothing written on it, just a square of a box with a lid, and that made him momentarily forget about burning stares from strange boys.

Immediately, Renjun tried to open it, but surprisingly it didn’t open. He tried again and applied more force, but the lid didn’t move. Huffing a little with how much force a simple box could make him use, he tried once again just to be met with the same resistance.

Strange. 

Renjun usually had a lot of patience, but that relatively small object was really testing his limits.  _ One last time, pull the lid. Nothing. _

He looked around, to see if anyone was witnessing his struggle with a damn box, eyes scanning the room. It was nothing new when Renjun noticed that Jaemin was still looking at him, but his expression was different, he looked sad. No, not sad. Disappointed, and Renjun wondered if maybe that gift was from him.

It didn’t matter anyway, since he was frustrated at not being able to open it.

“Stupid box.” He huffed again, throwing the box on the floor and staring angrily at it as if it would magically open just because he was pouting. 

“Why are you cursing at a box?” Donghyuck’s voice came behind Renjun, and the boy startled a little before turning to face his friend. 

“It won’t open.” He said, hopping to his feet and stubbornly toeing the box again. 

“Is it broken?”

“I don’t think so. Maybe it’s sealed with a spell.” Renjun shrugged. “I’ll try that later.”

“Okay.” Donghyuck mirrored Renjun’s gesture and pointed to where their friends were already drifting off into sleep. “You should drag Yukhei and Lele back to your dorm, it’s very late and we’re going to be in big trouble if we get caught.” The boy reasoned around a yawn. 

“What about Jeno?” Renjun asked, already gathering his presents and dropping them into a big paper bag Yukhei had saved him. 

“I’ll force him to cuddle me tonight.” His friend beamed. 

Renjun shook his head, but said nothing. He knew Jeno didn’t need to be forced into a cuddling session with Donghyuck. “Fine, we’ll get going then.”

Before he could leave the Slytherin’s common room though, he grabbed Donghyuck’s hand and pulled him aside, an annoying thought swimming in his head.

“I think the box was from Jaemin.” Renjun whispered. 

Donghyuck stared at him dumbly. 

“The one that wouldn’t open.” He explained. 

“Oh! Right.” Donghyuck seemed to remember, but his eyes were already droopy and Renjun knew he was too tired to take him seriously. “I don’t think he would give you a present, you’re not very kind to him.” His tone was low but it wasn’t accusing. It was just facts. “Besides, it doesn’t even work. So, forget about it and sleep.” His best friend patted Renjun’s arm, letting go of his hand and walking back into his dorm. “Good night, Junnie.”

“Yeah, good night.”

Maybe Renjun should just forget about it, but as he walked back to his own dorm while trying to hide from professors who might still be awake, the bag he was carrying seemed to get heavier, and when he finally stepped into his room, he knew he was done for as long as that box wouldn’t open. 

  
  


As predicted, Renjun couldn’t stop thinking about that mysterious box. 

He tried to open it all night long, wasted time and spells on it, giving up only when his eyes were too tired to stay open. Obviously, he was late for his first class the day after, and had to spend extra time in the classroom, helping his Potions professor restock the ingredients they used for the class. 

Hours later, when he finally had some free time and reunited with Donghyuck, Jisung and Chenle at the Ravenclaw’s common room, he still felt very much tired. But that damn box wouldn’t leave his mind. 

Renjun dropped himself on the couch opposite from where Donghyuck was trying to do his homework, keyword  _ trying _ , and Jisung was very much slouched at his side with Chenle supporting his legs. 

“What’s on your mind, Hyung?” Chenle asked, eyeing Renjun carefully. “You seen tired and unhappy.”

“I couldn’t open the box.” Renjun confessed, slumping so much into the couch that he was about to become one with it. “I tried all night long and… nothing.” 

At that, Jisung perked up, adjusting himself and grabbing a bag of chips from the floor. 

“You don’t know what it’s supposed to do.” Jisung shrugged, leaning his head on Donghyuck’s thigh after stuffing his mouth full of chips. “Maybe it’s just a box.” He said, all crunchy sounds. 

Renjun’s scowl twisted into a grimace.

“Why would someone give a box as a birthday gift?” Chenle questioned, smacking Jisung’s legs off of his lap and making the younger boy whine. “That’s just silly.”

Donghyuck, finally giving up on his homework, clicked his tongue. “Maybe Sungie is right. Maybe it is just a box.” He looked at Renjun, sighing when he noticed his friend thinking too hard. “You’re overthinking it Renjun, just let it go.”

“Yeah!” Jisung agreed. “Let the box be a box!” He chuckled, earning himself a slap from Chenle, but he was too busy laughing at his own dorkiness.

Still. There was something about that box, something about the way Jaemin was looking at Renjun when he tried to open it, like he was expecting something to jump right out of the thing on Renjun’s hand and into his face. And the look of disappointment on his face after nothing happened was even more suspicious. Renjun just  _ had _ to know. 

“Can’t you just ask him, Hyuck?” Renjun tried, keeping his voice firm so his friends wouldn’t see how much that gift had messed with him. It was an understatement to say that it didn’t work. 

Donghyuck sighed once again. “You don’t even know for sure it was Jaemin, Junnie. It could be from anyone, all of Slytherin’s and Ravenclaw’s students in our year knew of your party. Also, Yukhei’s friends.” He pointed a finger to Renjun, then raised his hands to lock them behind his head. “There’s no way to know for sure.”

Renjun snorted at that. It wasn’t funny per see, but it was ironic. “But I  _ do _ know for sure it was him. He was looking at me when I opened it.” Renjun tapped his fingers on his lap, he  _ was _ sure. 

“Well, why don’t  _ you _ ask him then?” Chenle interrupted before Donghyuck could answer, the tone of his voice showing how he was clearly annoyed with Renjun’s antics. 

Huh. Maybe that was a good idea. 

It was not a good idea. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thoughts?


	3. The One Where Jaemin Gets Lines

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, i finally remembered this is a renmin fic so...  
> enjoy the first real interaction between our main characters <3  
> (this is not reviewed)

First of all, Renjun’s choice of place and time was extremely wrong. Why did he think that approaching the Slytherin boy in the middle of the hallway, between classes at daylight was a good idea ? There was nothing worse than whatever that idea was. Second, Renjun should have reconsidered his decision to do that while Jaemin was surrounded by other students, not his friends, obviously, just some random people who he liked to hang around when he wasn’t crashing Renjun’s time with his friends.

As he approached where they were, he successfully shut down their conversation with the scowl he was wearing since the day before.

Jaemin was smiling, having stopped talking in the middle of a laugh when he eyes caught on Renjun. For a second the world spinned, and Renjun had to take a breath before remembering why he was there. It was not his fault that damned smile was so blinding.

“Jaemin, I have to talk to you.” Renjun hissed, pointedly ignoring the curious eyes around them.

“Oh ?” Jaemin’s smile turned into a smirk, his eyebrow quirking up in question. “Well, okay then.” He made a gesture with his hands that told Renjun he could go on.

“Alone.” Renjun spat out, his patience running low, as usual when the subject was that same boy with golden locks and extremely bright smiles. 

At that, Jaemin actually snorted. “Are you finally going to murder me?” He put a hand on his chest and fake gasped. “In public, Renjun? I thought you’d be smarter than that.” Right, Jaemin and his big mouth, he was really annoying.

Renjun took another deep breath, his impatience boiling up his throat, preparing himself to be  _ mean _ . But then...

“Renjun!” He heard a very familiar voice call out to him, and when he startled in the direction of the voice, there was a very ruffled Yukhei coming his way, seeming had run all the way there.

“Shit.” Someone among Jaemin’s companions said, but Renjun was already rushing towards his brother, so he didn’t even stayed enough to hear things mean people said about his brother when they didn’t even knew a thing about him.

Renjun managed to reach Yukhei before the boy could get any closer, and he paid little mind to his messy hair.

“What?” Renjun asked, totally not giving away that he knew he was making a scene in the middle of the hallway.

“ _ What? _ What, you say.” Yukhei shook his head. “C’mon, we’re not doing this here.” He grabbed Renjun’s wrist, not tight, never too strong, and dragged him to an empty classroom.

It seemed that it was an abandoned one, since the chairs and desks were pushed aside and a layer of dust was sitting atop of everything. Yukhei let go of Renjun and sat at one of the chairs, indicating the one by his side so Renjun could do the same, so he did.

“What do you think you were doing?” Yukhei ran a hand through his hair, making it even messier. And then he continued with a lower tone. “Making a scene like that? And because of that boy… Sincerely, Jun, he’s not worth it.” He lamented with big eyes.

“I needed to talk to him, Xuxi, but he gets on my nerves with being to sly so I got a little irritated.” Renjun said, exasperation creeping into his voice.

“You shouldn’t talk to him at all, then!” Yukhei exclaimed, his hands coming up and dropping again.

“Other than him being annoying, I have no reason to avoid speaking to him.”

Renjun knew where this was going, and he didn’t like it. So it was no surprise when Yukhei’s expression grew uncharacteristically angry in a way that reminded Renjun of their mother.

“You know very well that’s not true!” It was concerning how red his ears were getting, and how fast that was happening. “We’re not supposed to make friends of him, his brother and his family.”

Right, Jaemin’s brother. He was called Ten, and he was in the same year as Yukhei. All that Renjun knew was that he used to see Yukhei and Ten together all the time when he was in his first year at Hogwarts and their were in their second, but then, after the first holidays the Dragon Brothers went home to spend time with their parents, even if Renjun just stayed inside his room while Yukhei did all the family bonding activities along with their parents, when Yukhei got back, he changed friends, Ten was nowhere to be found near Yukhei.

Sometimes, Renjun would spot Ten eating alone at the Slytherin tables, as in there would be a lot of students around but he was never talking to anyone. Renjun thought that was a little sad, to be this lonely. But in the next year of school, Ten apparently got over his lonely phase and got new friends, but the most interaction there would be between Yukhei and Ten was the casual glaring when they say each other in the hallways.

Since then, Yukhei seemed to hate the other boy, and Jaemin in association since he was Ten’s brother. It was something their parents said about them, Renjun was sure. But since he didn’t care enough to ask, he just kept his distance and stayed quiet about the whole ordeal. Coincidentally, Jaemin easily made Renjun’s patience topple down the staircase, that made it easier to stay away from the boy.

“I’ve never understood why that is a rule.” Renjun sighed. “Mom and Dad say the same, but they never gave us a reason.” 

“They’re bad people, Jun.” Yukhei got up, his face now getting red too. “All you need to know is that you should keep your distance!” He was clearly trying to sound serious, firm.

The only problem was: all that just made the last thread of patience left inside Renjun snap, all his anger boiling up once again. He was tired, so very much tired of his parents dictating his life, his actions, what he wore, and above all, who he talked to. Jaemin’s family wasn’t the only people Renjun had been told to keep his distance, but fortunately his close friends weren’t on that list, so it only bothered him partially until now. 

Why did he need to avoid Jaemin like the plague? Only because of his parents? It wasn’t like he was eager to hang out with Jaemin willingly at the first opportunity he had, very much the contrary, but what if? What if he wanted to be friends with him, why couldn’t he? Just because his parents told so. That was revolting.

“But why?” Renjun also got up, even if Yukhei was still very much taller than him, he tried to level their heights. “Why do I have to blindly follow every word they say? They’re aren’t even here Yukhei, they never were!” The anger seemed to control what he said, the words coming out before he could even think twice. “Hell, you were the one to raise me inside their own house, the place that was supposed to be my home but feels like a stranger’s place every time I have to go back there!”

By now, he was already screaming, the night spend awake and all the frustration he was feeling getting the best of him.

For a second, Yukhei seemed at a lost of words. It was understandable, Renjun never snapped like that, he usually kept to himself because he didn’t like fighting and screaming and would do everything he could to avoid that.

But then, his face sobered up and he took a deep breath. “Look, Jun. I love you, you’re my little brother and I would do anything for you, you know that...” He moved to place a hand on Renjun’s shoulder, but the boy stepped back and his hand fell back to Yukhei’s side. “But I learned we shouldn’t question what Mom and Dad say, so you should listen to me since I know what I’m talking about, stay away from that family.” He sounded hurt, but Renjun couldn’t point exactly what made his eyes seem so sad.

Maybe he was disappointed in Renjun for defying his orders? It was unlikely. Yukhei had a huge soft spot for his little brother, everyone with eyes could see it. Even if sometimes he was a little tough with him, it was out of love.

But if that was not the case… 

Maybe whatever their parents had told Yukhei before he stopped being friends with Ten had hurt him? Maybe that was what he was talking about? Maybe he was losing his control and being insistent just so he could protect Renjun from their parents wrath?

Huh…

Yukhei took his pause as a negative response, and sighed loudly. “Please Renjun, I don’t want to see you around those people again, got it?” He waited a little longer, but as Renjun was still lost on his own thoughts, he said nothing. He didn’t even knew what to say, he couldn’t promise to stay away because he knew he would break his promise, and he still needed to know about that mysterious box.

But he knew Yukhei was waiting for some sort of confirmation by how his face was scrunched up as he searched Renjun’s own. So, Renjun took his brother’s choice of words and used it in his favor.

“Okay, you won’t see me around them.” He mumbled, half of him still too pissed and wanting to fight back again, but it would only tire both of them.

“Great.” Yukhei smiled a bit, the sight a little weird since it was too strained. “I’m going back to class as should you.” He turned around, not even waiting for Renjun’s reply because he already knew he wasn’t getting one.

As soon as his brother exited the room and the door closed behind him, Renjun could feel tears collect in his eyes, all the frustration he felt during that last happenings translating into choked up sobs as he let them roll down his cheeks.

He dropped himself back again on the chair, bringing his hands to his face to mute his cries, even it that wouldn’t quite work. Only his shaky breaths and sobs were heard in the room, until the door was opened again, making Renjun snap his head up so fast his neck hurt.

“Renjun?” The voice was tentative, showing that whoever it was, already knew Renjun was crying and wanted to approach carefully. “Can I come in?” His voice was soft, much softer than Renjun had ever heard, but it was still very much familiar.

He wanted to say no, but he was so sad and miserable in that moment that saying yes wasn’t going to change much his state, so he did. “Yeah.” He croaked as high as his broken voice would let him.

When Jaemin’s head poked inside, new tears started to wet Renjun’s face, and he dropped it again on his hands. “Are you sure?” Jaemin asked, getting inside and closing the door behind him. “I can leave you alone if you prefer that.” There was no sound of steps so it was noticeable he wasn’t trying to get closer before making sure it was okay for Renjun.

“It’s fine, there’s no way my mood would get worse.” Renjun murmured, not ready to face Jaemin yet. “I just…” Another cry closed his throat and he sobbed harder.

Just then, Jaemin finally moved closer. “Hey, hey.” He dragged a chair to sit besides Renjun. “It’s okay, you’re okay.” He soothed, his voice so sweet it was hard to remember how he was mocking Renjun just minutes before. “Can I touch you?”

“Yeah.”

Jaemin placed a gentle hand on Renjun’s shoulder, his thumb softly rubbing his skin, it was barely there since it was above his robes, but it was appreciated. Eventually, Renjun got calmer, his breathing got back to normal and the tears finally stopped. 

He felt renewed, even if his problems were still there, it felt good to let the bad feelings out.

Jaemin, who stayed mostly quiet until then just whispering little encouragements and the occasional “ _ shh _ ”, took a deep breath and Renjun mimicked him.

“I’m fine now.” The Ravenclaw boy looked up, rubbing a hand on his face in hopes of not looking too much like a mess and trying a little smile. It felt somewhat bitter on his lips.

“Yeah?” Jaemin had this little smile on, but his eyes were full of worry, genuine worry.

Well, even Jaemin wouldn’t be annoying enough to not get preoccupied about someone crying.

“Mhm.” Renjun replied, now looking at the ground due to the shame of the situation getting to him.

Before Jaemin could say something though, the door opened once again, and Renjun swore he would get a neck ache with how much it was turning abruptly.

“Jaemin you little shit, I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” It was Jaemin’s brother, Ten, and he looked downright pissed, his face red and his voice full of anger. 

“Damn Hyung, just a little more and you would’ve popped a vein.” Jaemin chuckled, not at all bothered by Ten’s anger, and the hand that was still on Renjun’s shoulder dropped.

“Someday, when you piss off the wrong person, you’ll lose all your teeth and the only thing I’ll feel is relief because I won’t have to deal with your smart mouth anymore.” Ten fumed, all but glaring at Jaemin. “What are you even doing here? I was told you got in the middle of a…” Ten just now looked around and spotted Renjun, cutting his own sentence short.

“Hey.” Renjun waved timidly, ignoring the voice on his head that remembered him Yukhei said to stay away from Jaemin and his brother, but he wasn’t technically wrong, since the promise was that Yukhei wouldn’t see Renjun around the brothers.

“Hi.” Ten waved back after a moment, his anger turning into confusion as he looked back at his brother. “I… I’ll wait for you outside Jaemin.” Then he turned to Renjun.”I’m sorry for interrupting.” 

He waited until Renjun nodded and turned back in his heels, leaving as fast as he arrived. A moment of very awkward silence passed as Renjun tried to compute everything that happened.

“I should go.” Jaemin sighed, sounding all but preoccupied with Ten’s threats of lost teeth.

“Yeah” Renjun replied, but he was still looking at where Ten was seconds before.

“Okay.” Jaemin got up, but he didn’t move, so Renjun turned his direction.

He was fumbling with his robes, until he pulled a little chocolate bar from it and tilted it at Renjun, offering him the candy.

Renjun just blinked up at him in confusion.

“Take this, chocolate always makes me feel better after I cry.” He said while pushing his hand further, until Renjun took it.

“Thank you." The gesture was so sincere that Renjun felt like crying all over again.

“Don’t mention it.” Jaemin nodded and walked to the door, but before he could leave for good, Renjun got up.

“Wait!” He watched the Slytherin boy turn back, his eyes attentive. “That box I got as a present yesterday was from you, wasn’t it? What does it do? What’s inside it?” He still needed to solve that mystery.

For just a fraction, Jaemin seemed confused, but then a teasing smile spread on his lips and he shrugged. “Wouldn’t you like to know.” And with that he was gone.

Such fast change of character gave Renjun whiplash, so he was stuck in place for a few seconds. But when he finally got over himself and stepped out of the room to run after Jaemin and demand an answer, the Slytherin boy was nowhere to be seen in the long hallway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can find me here: [twt](http://www.twitter.com/hyuckrie) [ccat](http://www.curiouscat.me/hyuckrie)


	4. The One Where Renjun Tries To Turn Invisible.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, not beta-ed and im sorry for taking so long but i did NOT give up!

After crying so much, Renjun had no energy left to fight sleep, so as soon as he got to his room after classes, he collapsed in his bed and slept like a rock. It wasn’t even curfew time when he locked himself inside his dorm and ignored the loud laughs from his friends that were still chatting in the Ravenclaw’s common room. 

But that didn’t mean his mind stopped working, even asleep, his brain was going overdrive and mixing his thoughts, his body was exhausted but that didn’t prevented all his feelings to turn into the most bizarre dream. 

The dream was so strange that it was hard to describe, a lot of screams and people running around. Renjun was in the middle of it and completely clueless about what was happening, all he could see was a white fog and shadows that passed by too fast behind it to be recognizable. 

He was choked up with the feeling of suffocation, and no matter where he walked to, the fog just got denser but then explosions of color would make it lighter, neon greens and blues mixing together and even if those colors wouldn’t usually mix prettily, Renjun was attracted to how warm it got the closer he walked to the explosions. 

It was a feeling that made his toes tingle and he noticed that he was barefooted, the ground cold and hard under his feet but that sensation was easily ignored once Renjun found the source of the explosions. 

It was a baby dragon with two heads, blowing fire of his mouths but instead of the usual orange and yellow of the flames, one head spat green and the other blue. Renjun was familiar with that kind of creature since he grew up in a family that raise all kinds of dragons, but he was certain that no dragon in history had green and blue flames. Maybe it was a spell? Or maybe the little creature had some sort of powder inside his mouth that modified the colors of his fire? 

The questions piled up as Renjun got closer, like the proximity could solve the mystery in front of him. But it wasn’t going to be that easy, it never was inside dreams, they were always just strange things that we never knew how to interpret. So it was almost comical how it all turned into fog again as soon as Renjun got close enough to get at least one answer, and he watched as his hand reached in front of him, grabbing nothing as all vanished into the air. 

As fast as sleep came to him, Renjun abruptly sat up in his bed, gasping for air and wide awake in alert. 

“Jun?” He heard the voice of his best friend, but his silhouette was a blur when Renjun turned his head too fast to look for the source of the voice. “Renjun? Are you ok?” A hand came to caress his forehead, the intention of looking for a signal of feverish skin clear in the act. 

“Donghyuck?” Renjun croaked out, looking for his friend in the middle of the dark, still a little disoriented and his mind still flashing green and blue flames. “Is that you?”

It was indeed Donghyuck who came to comfort him, his friend just hummed in agreement and the bed dipped a little under the weight of his knees when he moved to sit beside Renjun. 

“Were you having a bad dream?” The room was still very much bathed in darkness, but Donghyuck’s fingers didn’t need light to know the way to Renjun’s hair, caressing lightly as if Donghyuck was afraid of disturb Renjun further. 

Renjun sighed, he didn’t even know how to explain what he dreamed about now that he was awake, there were feelings that his words could never grasp, could never describe with precision. 

“It wasn’t bad, just very strange.” He decided to say, since trying to explain wasn’t going to help with anything, and certainly Donghyuck couldn’t possibly have a secret skill to explain the hidden significances of dreams. “Why are you here anyway?” 

At Renjun’s words, Donghyuck snorted. “You ungrateful brat.” He took advantage of his fingers being near to flick Renjun’s forehead, making the Ravenclaw boy hiss and scoot back a little. “I was still chatting with Chenle when one of your roommates came down saying that you were mumbling in your sleep, I just wanted to check on you before heading back to my dorm, but as soon as I opened the door, you woke up gasping.” He clicked his tongue but returned to turn Renjun’s strands of hair between his fingers. 

Contrary to Donghyuck’s accusation, Renjun was very much grateful for his friend company, but now as he scanned the still empty beds around him, his focus changed. 

“Is it still early then?” Renjun felt like he slept for a whole night, his exhaustion gone and ready to play a full game of Quidditch. It was sad that he woke up even before his roommates started to get ready to bed. 

“Pretty much, yes.” Donghyuck said, somehow letting a sorrow tone escape through his voice, as if he understood why Renjun was asking that. “You can come with me to my dorm if you don’t think you’ll be able to sleep more, we can chat until tomorrow if you like.” 

“I don’t want to interrupt your sleep, Hyuck, but thank you.” Renjun smiled a little, even if his friend couldn’t see it. 

They used to do that all the time before, chat until the morning came and they had to separate ways, Renjun and Donghyuck were two kids full of energy, and they didn’t need that much sleep anyway. But that was before Donghyuck started to date Jeno, and even if Jeno wasn’t the direct cause of the end of their little late night reunions, they just started to do it less and less, until they were too unaccustomed to keep doing it. Renjun kind of missed it, and something in Donghyuck’s request showed that he missed it too. 

There was perks to knowing someone for years, so when Donghyuck brushed Renjun’s words off easily, it wasn’t a surprise. Donghyuck could be stubborn when it came to taking care of his friends, he did it even if it was against their own will. That, and the fact that he actually sounded like he wanted the company. 

“What if I gave you access to my stack of chocolate?” He offered, as silly as it was. 

That somehow made Renjun think of Jaemin and the way he offered chocolate to Renjun earlier claiming that it would help. He brushed the feeling away, and focussed on his friend. 

“Fine, you convinced me.” He giggled, knowing that it wasn’t Donghyuck’s offer that swayed Renjun, but the fact that the more Donghyuck spoke, the less Renjun’s proud took the best of him. 

They went to the Slytherin dorms, waving a worried looking Chenle bye while Donghyuck yelled at him to mind his own business. Renjun chuckled at his friends antics and followed him through the corridors of the school until they reached the dungeons and Donghyuck honey whispered the password to the walls. 

It was only when they were already under Donghyuck’s big blanket, legs entangled and a few snacks around them (they tried to be quiet about the chocolates frogs but still, the other Slytherin boys had to shush them time and time again), that Donghyuck finally asked what he wanted to. 

“So… I heard that you caused a scene earlier.” He said, voice low and eyes attentive, the soft glow of Renjun’s wand around them. “What was that about?”

There was no use trying to hide it, first Donghyuck was all in for the gossips, so he probably already knew what went down, mostly. And second, he was Renjun’s best friend, the one Renjun could always tell anything even if he didn’t feel like it. So Renjun decided to just be honest. 

“I told you that damn box was getting on my nerves.” He clicked his tongue. “Very much like the one who gave me that does every time!” Renjun’s whisper got a little bit higher at that, discontent clear.

“So you went to ask Jaemin about it? In the middle of the day?” Donghyuck raised an eyebrow. “In the middle of the hallway? Not very Renjun of you to do that.” He chuckled lowly, obviously making fun of Renjun. 

“Shut up.” Renjun tapped Donghyuck’s head with the bottom of his wand, for what the boy exclaimed a little “ow!” and rubbed the spot with his hand. After rolling his eyes, Renjun looked down, a little embarrassed with his own behavior. “It’s just that… I needed an answer and I was tired and my head was not in the right place.”

Donghyuck hummed in understanding, reaching for Renjun’s free hand and wrapping his own around it, comforting his friend. It took a few moments of silence until Renjun looked up again, and his friend had a fond look on his face, a bit of amusement that Renjun didn’t understand, but before he could question it, Donghyuck talked. 

“So, did you get it?” He asked. 

“Hm?” Renjun was still distracted by the look on his friend’s face. 

“Your answer. Did he tell you what you wanted to know?” He pressed, tone getting a bit of smugness.

Realization hit Renjun and he whined. “Of course no, Jaemin is a little demon after all. Why did I think that he would be of any help is beyond me.” He sighed.

“Right…” Donghyuck only seemed to grow even more amused at that, his laugh high pitched and breathy as he struggled to keep quiet.

Renjun felt tempted to tap him again with his wand, or even smack him, annoyed because his best friend was not taking his worries seriously, but Donghyuck was just so silly he couldn’t help but to just roll his eyes again as a small smile pulled in the corners of his mouth.

Eventually Donghyuck got so quiet that it was impossible that he was awake and when Renjun looked at his friend, he was indeed sleeping, so he turned off the light from his wand and sighed. Renjun was still wide awake, not a inch of tiredness on his body. 

In his defense, he tried to sleep, countless times, but all he managed was to roll around so much that Donghyuck smacked him and told him to stop moving before drifting to sleep again. 

Giving up, Renjun got up silently and grabbed his robes, putting them atop of his pajamas, sighing internally to himself as the decision of going back to his own bed settled in his tired but sleepless bones. He moved with light steps, knowing he could get caught by the Slytherin’s prefects, and walked hidden by the shadows. But just after he successfully got out of the dungeons and stepped into the hallway, he heard the faint noise of steps behind him.

Oh no. Oh, no no no.

Fearing having been caught, Renjun immediately stopped in his tracks, his heartbeat loud in his ears. He forced his breathing to slow down, keeping his noises as quiet as he could, but it still echoed in the too quiet hallways. The sound of the unknown footsteps stopped and Renjun’s heart started beating impossibly faster.

“I can see you, you know? You can’t make yourself invisible just by standing really quietly.” A low chuckle followed the voice and Renjun cursed internally, he was going to be in so much trouble, damn it.

“I was going to just go my way and pretend I didn’t hear you but you looked so funny while frozen in shock.” The voice spoke again, the same soft rumble of a low laughter following.

Wait, what? So, Renjun was not the only one walking through the corridors of the castle past curfew without permission. He slowly turned around as his heartbeat calming allowed him to recognize the voice of the boy now standing just a few meters in front of him, all cheeky grin and playful eyes.

“Jaemin.” The scowl forming on Renjun’s face was not one very friendly, he spoke the name as if the word had personally offended him.

At that, Jaemin only smiled wider, not a bit affected by Renjun’s sour mood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can find me here: [twt](http://www.twitter.com/hyuckrie) [ccat](http://www.curiouscat.me/hyuckrie)


	5. The One Where There’s A Dragon. Sort Of.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And the plot thickens! More mysteries added!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, my bday its in a few days so i wrote this and decided to post as an early present for myself hehe

“Renjun.” Jaemin’s tone was mocking sweet, the curve of his mouth making Renjun’s eye twitch in irritation.

“What are you doing here?” The boy snarled, not really that curious, just very much annoyed.

Jaemin laughed again, walking closer and suddenly all too close to Renjun’s liking, as he moved, it was visible that he was wearing his pajamas under his robes just like Renjun was. Why was he so smiley in the middle of the night?, he was so weird.

“I should be the one asking you that, you’re not supposed to be here.” Jaemin pointed his wand at Renjun, the soft glow emanating from it casted funny shadows on the tall walls.

Renjun clicked his tongue.

“Well, I’m not supposed to be talking to you either, but here I am.” He shrugged his shoulders, finally able to smooth down the frown between his eyebrows and letting a little bit of smugness slip into his tone.

There was a bit of silence, Jaemin’s eyes flashing with a few unrecognizable emotions as he seemed to recall something, his smile dropping and the corners of his mouth turning downwards instead. He took a deep breath before eyeing Renjun carefully, his expression softer.

“Was that what you and Yukhei were fighting over earlier?” He asked, his voice just a bit lower, like he was testing out the waters, afraid of Renjun’s reaction to such a personal question. “That’s what has got you so sad?

Renjun clicked his tongue, there it went Jaemin again, always sticking his nose into things that were definitely not his business, always too curious and asking questions, was it that difficult to Jaemin to just keep it to himself? Wasn’t it enough that Renjun’s family was constantly trying to control his every move without giving him any way to protest, he needed to deal with someone who wasn’t even his friend asking uncomfortable questions? It was so damn tiring living like that.

“It doesn’t matter, Jaemin.” Renjun was just so done, he needed to be alone and try to sleep a little before the morning would come.

With that he turned his back to the boy and was about to prepare himself for the impending headache he would get at tomorrow morning’s classes from lack of sleep, but an hand on his shoulder stopped him, making him halt his steps.

“Fine, I won’t pry.” Jaemin sighed, and Renjun had to suppress an eye roll because it really looked like he was putting a lot of work into not prying. 

“Thanks?” Renjun said back, the annoyance on his tone making it sound like a question instead of a statement.

But Jaemin didn’t let go, instead he just rolled his eyes, not even trying to conceal it like Renjun did, what gave away just how irritating he was.

There was a pause of silence, Renjun just looked at Jaemin emanating exasperated energy and huffing a little. Renjun needed a price for his patience, really. “What, Jaemin? What is it?”

“I thought you’d never ask!” The hand that was still holding onto Renjun’s shoulder shook him without force. “Do you want to see something?” 

Renjun considered it, Jaemin did sound excited so maybe it was worth it, he wasn’t going to get any sleep anyway… Following a boy who easily got on his nerves to Merlin knows where didn’t sound like the best idea, but the way Jaemin was bouncing on his feet made Renjun a little curious, even if he was definitely not going to tell that to anyone.

“Maybe.” He breathed out, nothing above a whisper, but it was enough for Jaemin to smile, wide and unfiltered, taking that as a yes.

“Follow me then, something tells me you’re gonna find this interesting.” He cheerfully let go of Renjun’s shoulder just to grab his hand next, trying to drag the smaller boy along.

The sudden contact of skin on skin made Renjun backtrack, just hours ago he was fighting with his brother, the only family that really cared about him, just because he was seen talking to this boy who was taking him somewhere. He already had said yes and was somewhat anticipating what Jaemin was going to show him, but he decided to not let himself enjoy the other’s company that much because liking it or not, he had agreed with what Yukhei had asked of him.

“Look, just because I’m going along with your late night adventure, doesn’t mean we’re friends, got that?” Renjun shook his hand from Jaemin’s, and the other boy flinched a bit with his last words, but he just nodded and walked, not looking back to see if Renjun was following him, and Renjun just silently walked behind him.

They crossed the castle halls quietly, the only sound audible was their footsteps echoing through the walls. Jaemin did have to pull Renjun back and make them stop a few times when he heard unknown noises that could be someone that could catch them walking around after curfew, but other than that, they succeed, and Renjun found himself at one of the high towers of the castle, a long hallway with big double doors that gave to a bigger balcony made out of large grey stone, shining under the pale moonlight.

Huh, he didn’t even remember climbing that much stairs.

The moment was so peaceful, so light and quiet that Renjun was afraid to talk, maybe if he did, all of that would shatter and it would be such a shame for that to happen, those kind of moments were getting so rarer. But he couldn’t control his mouth for his own sake.

“So, where is it?” Renjun asked as he leaned on the railing of the balcony, a large but rather small wall, made of stone like the rest of the surroundings. “Where is the thing you wanted to show me.” He eyed Jaemin.

The other boy was too leaned on the railing, but instead of facing his side like Renjun were, he was facing the front, looking at forward at something that wasn’t there. Renjun checked twice to see if he was missing something but all that he saw was the school’s grounds, and a part of the forest. 

“Well, to tell you the truth, I’m not sure we’ll be able to see it tonight.” Jaemin fidgeted a little, his hands on top of the railing and his feet tapping on the stone floor.

Seriously, this guy… Renjun was dumbstruck. Jaemin took him there just to see something that probably wasn’t even going to happen? Honestly, staying in bed and not sleeping sounded better by the minute.

“But I see that you’re more curious about it than you let on.” Jaemin said before Renjun could curse him and take his leave, the boy turned to face him for a bit and smile smugly, but soon his eyes went back to scanning the trees and bushes above them. “Don’t worry, I think fate is on our side this time.” He took a deep breath and held it, his eyes never leaving the same spot.

“Look Jaemin, if you did this just to piss me off, I would gladly go back to my-”

“There!” Jaemin exclaimed, interrupting Renjun mid-sentence. “Can you shut up already and look?” The boy pointed.

Renjun turned on his heels to look forward and followed to where Jaemin’s finger was pointing. There, in the edge of the forest was a figure, a short boy with black hair and green detailed robes. A Slytherin then.

“So what? It’s just another Slytherin breaking the curfew.” Renjun huffed. “I don’t get it.”

“Renjun, you’re looking but I don’t think you’re  _ seeing _ .” He could hear Jaemin’s feet speeding on it’s tapping. “Just wait for it.”

And wait Renjun did. The figure looked around for a bit, but never enough to show his face, and from this far Renjun doubted he could recognize anyone he wasn’t familiar with. Then, the boy entered the forest and the trees hid him, making it harder by the minute to understand what Jaemin wanted Renjun to see. 

Maybe after three of five minutes, really felt like an eternity to Renjun, something changed.

Not too far from where the boy entered the forest, a thread of blue light make itself visible from between the tallest trees, it was really powerful, the spell. Renjun was amazed. He noticed then that the light had a form, an animal form. So it was a patronus. 

Why would anyone go into the forest in the middle of the night to conjure a patronus? It was so damn confusing, nevertheless dangerous, this person could get caught and punished for doing something you could do anytime at Hogwarts. Shaking his head, Renjun chose to just keep watching.

The animal conjured by the patronus was not that big, but it had long wings and a slender tail that moved right and left as it flew around. It was so familiar to Renjun, he grew up around those kind of magical creatures afterall, it was the easiest thing in the world to identify as an dragon. 

“It’s really beautiful, the patronus.” Renjun whispered, knowing that Jaemin had listened to him by the nod he caught in the corner of his vision, both were too hypnotized by the scene before them to divert their gaze. “Whoever is conjuring it, must be really brilliant.”

“Yeah.” Jaemin agreed, and the smile he was sporting was both audible through his tone and visible under the night light, even if Renjun was still not looking his way. He sounded… proud? But there was no time to dwell on that once the boy spoke again and Renjun’s attention shifted. “But here comes the best part.” He was pointing again.

There was another figure, another boy a lot taller than the first one, and his robes were detailed in blue, a Ravenclaw then. This time, when the boy looked around, he was closer to the castle than the other one was, so Renjun caught a glimpse of his face, and Renjun was very much acquainted with that face and that profile, since the boy was his own brother.

A gasp left Renjun’s mouth as he recognized the second figure as Yukhei and he turned, alarmed, looking at Jaemin for an answer for his silent question. But Jaemin didn’t look back, he just gestured forward. Renjun shook his head before looking at Yukhei again, trying to make sense of this bizarre event or maybe just trying to make sure that this wasn’t another inexplicably crazy dream.

He watched his brother walk towards the forest and stop just before he got to the edge, sitting on the floor and hugging his knees to his chest, looking up. Renjun could tell even from this far that Yukhei was following the patronus’ moviments.

The dragon made of magic blue light would fly at random patterns, sometimes diving back at the forest, the tall green trees hiding it from view, but Yukhei would keep his eyes on the sky, waiting for it to come back to sight.

Renjun didn’t understand a bit of it, why would Yukhei break curfew just to watch someone else cast patronus? Maybe the person doing it was his friend and he was just keeping him company? No, if that was true, he Yukhei would just enter the forest, he wasn’t past that. It was true that he followed their parents rules with conviction, but keeping a friend company, even if it was in the middle of the night and prohibited by the school’s rules, wouldn’t hurt their parents as long as he was careful about it. And trust Yukhei to make sure to never get in trouble. 

Shaking his head, Renjun tried to come up with a good enough excuse for what he was watching, his eyes never leaving his brother’s back. He wasn’t sure how Yukhei didn’t feel the burn from his gaze. 

It was too difficult, he didn’t even know who the patronus’ owner was, and why in the world he would choose that location and time to practice the spell. 

Sighing, he turned to Jaemin. 

“What the hell is going on?” Renjun insisted on trying to get an answer out of the Slytherin boy. “I don’t get it.”

But of course, it wouldn’t be that easy. Jaemin just tsked, his eyes never leaving the scene before them, and jutted his chin out. “Have a little patience, will you?” He snorted under his breath, like all this was just  _ funny _ to him. “Oh, I guess you won’t need to wait any longer, look.” He pointed to the forest edge and Renjun turned, following his moviments. 

When he looked back, his brother wasn’t seated in the ground anymore, in fact he was pretty much gone. But Renjun didn’t have time to dwell on that, he was too astonished by the figure of the unknown boy exiting the forest, walking with his front facing the castle, at that Renjun was able to recognize him. And to say that the boy was not unknown at all…

The one now getting back to the castle without a hitch on his steps and a very serious face was Ten. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> maybe i’ll read this again to correct erros! and thank you if you’re still reading this.


End file.
